Gloucester 62 Viadana 5

27 August 2005 12:15

By Justin Hopwood

Gloucester's final pre-season run-out saw them win 62-5 against Viadana in Mark Cornwell's testimonial game at Kingsholm on Friday night. Tries from Azam, Morgan, Tindall, Goodridge, Thirlby (2) and a hat-trick from Jake Boer saw the West Country side go into the final week of preparation for the Guinness Premiership in good shape.

Match Summary

1 min:
Gloucester won a penalty in front of the posts straight from the kick off and Mercier took the three points.

10 mins:
After dominating the opening minutes in terms of possession, Mercier guaranteed good set-piece ball inside the Viadana 22 with a penalty to touch. The line-out was taken and the forwards drove the Italian pack backwards with Azam at the heart of the move. The French hooker dived for the line and took the try. Mercier converted.

14 mins:
Gloucester grabbed their second score four minutes later with an identical move, but this time it was blind-side forward Jake Boer who maintained possession and took the score. Mercier's trust boot added the extra.

19 mins:
Gloucester continued to dominate a closely fought encounter, as Viadana started to put some good phases together. Richards grabbed back the momentum with a well-judged kick that took the Italians back 30 metres.

23 mins:
Tindall, making his first start for Gloucester, made a powerful break after spotting the gap on half-way. His pass on the 22 was batted down by a Viadana hand and Mercier opted for the posts, but it went wide.

25 mins:
Foster had his first scoring chance from a cross-field kick from Mercier inside the Italian side's half. The young winger, who has been so impressive in the pre-season, cut inside before being taken to ground.

26 mins:
"Vickery, la, la, la, Vickery, la, la, la" came from the Shed as the Raging Bull started to make some old-style runs with the ball off the back of a line-out.

31 mins:
Henry Paul won turnover loose ball on the Gloucester 22 as Viadana attacked. He quickly off-loaded to Tindall, who barged his way through the Italian back-line to make 30 metres.

33 mins:
Referee Rob Debney showed the yellow card to Viadana's Andrea Benatti for infringing and Mercier went to touch with his kick.

From the set-piece the pack was held up on the line, before Richards recycled to Henry Paul, whose looping pass put Morgan away for the try.

(22-0 to Glos)

Half time: Gloucester 22 Viadana 0

44 mins:
Samuel Pace, the Viadana right winger, took a quick tap penalty, and caught the Gloucester defence asleep from 30 metres out to score the visitor's first try.

49 mins:
Viadana's number eight Wannenburg broke from their 22, but Mercier stole the ball from him and threw an arching pass of 20 metres on the visitor's 22 to put Tindall away for his first Gloucester score. Mercier converted.

(29-5 to Glos)

51 mins:
Mark Cornwell was replaced by Alex Brown and was applauded from the pitch.

52 mins:
Boer scored his second try of the night when he powered through from half-way with great pace and power to the line. Mercier converted.

(36-5 to Glos)

52 mins:
Viadana's Joshua Sole gave Viadana the upper hand after the score with a darting run that evaded all of the Gloucester tacklers. Tindall was replaced by Anthony Allen and Balding came on for Narraway.

56 mins:
Jake Boer sealed his hat-trick after a breathtaking move that started on Gloucester's own line. Mercier did a 'show and go' and threw an inch perfect pass to Anthony Allen, who had replaced Tindall. The young centre found space through the Italian midfield on his own 22 and off-loaded to Henry Paul. Rob Thirlby injected more pace on the wing, before Boer took it on from 30 metres out for his third try. Mercier converted.

(43-5 to Glos)

57 mins:
Powell replaced Vickery.

60 mins:
Goodridge replaced Morgan at full-back.

66 mins:
As the crowd were occupied with a streaker, Gloucester's back-line went through a well rehearsed move on the Italian's 22 to put Jonny Goodridge through in the corner. Mercier converted from the touchline.

67 mins:
Mefin Davies replaced Jake Boer, who looked to come off as a precaution after a try-scoring match.

70 mins:
Gloucester broke from the their own line with a blistering move. Mercier dummied and off-loaded to Foster, who was held up on half-way. Mercier received treatment for a late tackle, whilst a Viadana player saw a yellow card for some off-the-ball incident.

72 mins:
McRae replaced Mercier, who was fine after the late tackle.

73 mins:
Thirlby added to the try tally with an individual effort that had the crowd on their feet. His electric pace saw the Italian defence simply stand still as he went for the corner.

(55-5 to Glos)

77 mins:
Thirlby's pace secured his second score of the match in the same corner as a few minutes earlier. Henry Paul's touchline conversion went straight through the sticks.

Head Coach Johan Ackermann is under no illusions about the task in hand as Gloucester continue their Aviva Premiership campaign at Worcester on Saturday, the Warriors coming off the back of a fine win at Exeter last weekend.

Skipper Willi Heinz told GRTV that he was proud of his team's commitment in the 24-17 Aviva Premiership win over the Leicester Tigers at Kingsholm, but also in the brand of rugby they played in testing conditions.

The Aviva Premiership returns to Kingsholm on Saturday with Gloucester Rugby taking on the Leicester Tigers (kick off 2:30pm). Head Coach Johan Ackermann is anticipating a challenging game against a talented Tigers squad.

Jeremy Thrush described captaining Gloucester as 'awesome' and a privilege despite Saturday's 31-19 Anglo-Welsh Cup defeat, explaining that the team had set out to play good rugby and enjoy themselves and he felt that they'd achieved that at times.

Speaking after Gloucester bowed out of this year's Anglo-Welsh Cup with a defeat at Newcastle on Saturday, Head of Academy Richard Whiffin praised his team's efforts at Kingston Park but pinpointed a lack of accuracy which contributed to a win for the Falcons.

Gloucester Rugby Academy trio Tom Seabrook, Alex Seville and Aaron Hinkley have all been named in the starting line up for England U20, with Charlie Chapman lining up for Scotland as they clash in Edinburgh this Friday

Former Gloucester flanker Andy Hazell has today been named the latest winner of the RPA's quarterly Personal Development Award, which is designed to reward and celebrate the off-field development achievements of RPA members taking part in the RPA Personal Development Programme.

Gloucestershire Constabulary confirmed to the local media this morning that Gloucester Rugby Head Coach Johan Ackermann and his son Ruan will face no action from police over an incident in a nightclub.